Commentary

Ganim: Star reporter on Penn State scandal

Commentary: ‘Reporters follow facts’ is her mantra

By

JonFriedman

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — I am in awe of Sara Ganim, a crime reporter for the Patriot-News in Harrisburg, Pa.

Remember that name. She is likely headed for a big career in the craft of journalism. Ganim, who went to school at Penn State, has staked a claim as the reporter who has done the best job of covering the furor enveloping the university, its embattled, recently deposed football coach, Joe Paterno as well as other former officials.

The story exploded into the national consciousness last week after former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky was arrested and charged with 40 criminal counts of molesting eight young boys from 1994 to 2009.

Sara Ganim has been outstanding in her coverage of the Penn State sex scandal.

Penn State’s iconic, 84-year-old football coach Paterno was forced out by university trustees, as was the school’s president Graham Spanier, for failing to notify the police about Sandusky’s horrific acts. Obviously, this is a complex and sad saga, with many moving parts that seems to provide a bombshell a day. It would represent a major challenge even a grizzled reporter.

I’m in awe of Ganim because she is wise and savvy beyond her years. Only 24 years old, she speaks with the wisdom and perspective of a reporter who has been on the job a lot longer than she has.

Ganim wrote on March 31, 2011 — long before the mainstream media began following the story at all — that Sandusky was the subject of a grand-jury investigation for allegedly indecently assaulting a teenage boy. Ganim became better known after her Nov. 7 piece in which she interviewed two of the mothers of Sandusky’s alleged victims.

I became aware of Ganim last week, not long after the story broke. She was being interviewed on ESPN’s
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radio station in New York City and I was struck by how sounded completely knowledgeable, even-handed and compassionate she sounded.

Later in the week, I was listening to WFAN, the all-sports radio station in the city, and Kim Jones, a reporter on the scene at Penn State for WFAN, also mentioned Ganim’s stellar work. Ganim is developing a journalistic following, particularly on Twitter.

For instance, Jason McIntyre of the sports blog The Big Lead singled out Ganim — and her colleague Ben Jones — on Twitter, when he tweeted: “I think the Patriot-News will win journalism awards for great work on PSU” (Penn State University). He noted further that Ganim and Jones “will have many job offers.”

Right now, Ganim, a native of Florida who started working in journalism when she was 15 years old, isn’t thinking that far ahead. Mostly, all she cares about is continuing to a good job on a big story for her employer and continuing in the tradition of dedicated crime reporters.

“Crime reporting can be technical or touching,” she mused. “You can really do a lot of good. I’m usually covering people on the worst days of their lives. I can write about DUI crash victims and maybe help to bring about changes in laws or in rules about medical assistance.”

Clearly, Ganim was born to be a journalist. “I was always the kid who asked the inappropriate question and would get yelled at. But you have to be a little nosy and inquisitive,” she laughed. “I love digging up stories and telling stories.”

It’s reassuring to see that Ganim is leading the pack on the big story. Nowadays, journalistic scholars bemoan the future of small- to medium-sized U.S. newspapers in a climate when advertising revenue is getting more and more scarce. Advance Publications owns the Patriot-News.

When I told Ganim that some media critics had chided ESPN
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for not being more aggressive in covering the story at the outset, she said she took pride in the strong work that many local media establishments are doing.

“I do feel very strongly about local journalism,” she said. “We’re losing it and that’s very sad.”

Ganim has had an advantage of covering the story for a paper out of the national limelight. Without the pressure of toiling in New York or Washington, she has the luxury of developing news sources. If she had found herself as a reporter in her early 20s on a big-city daily, she might have been consigned to report on smaller stories. Sometimes it’s a blessing to be a big fish in a small pond — especially when opportunity knocks.

“You can credit the Patriot-News with giving me the time a reporter needs to cover this kind of story,” she said. “You don’t have that kind of flexibility any more.”

I’m looking forward to seeing what Ganim can turn up.

“This has been evolving so fast!” she said. “Everyday, something breaks that is more unbelievable than the day before. “I’ve been impressed by the strength of the moms I’ve talked to. Having to go through this is bad enough, but to experience it on a national scale, it’s just awful.”

For Ganim, one of the toughest parts of the job is to separate her emotions from her focus on getting the news for the readers. A story involving rampant child abuse, a powerful football coach and a prominent university’s neglect can be daunting.

“Reporters follow facts,” Ganim told me. “It may sadden people to see some stories. I just can’t let that get in the way of the facts.”

MEDIA WEB QUESTION OF THE DAY: How have them media been doing in covering the Penn State scandal?

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